Apparatus for removing contents of flasks



Dec. 14, 1937. E. J. HANDLER APPARATUS FOR REMOVING CQNTENTS OF FLASKS,

Filed June 29, 3 937 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR mama? BY I 27% a ORNEY 1937- E. J. HANDLER 2,102,266

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING CONTENTS OF FLASKS Filed June 29, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR yzjgimw f 3/.

A TORNEY Patented Dec. 14, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FLAS Edward J. Handler, Irvington, N. J.

Application June 29, 1937, Serial No. 150,902

1 Claim.

In the vulcanizing, casting, or molding of certain articles or devices, for example, dentures such as plates formed of rubber compositions, it is customary to place plastic investment compo- 5 sition in a flask and embed the article or a wax model in the composition while the latter is soft. The composition hardens and becomes heat resistant after a short period of time, after which the flask with the article therein is placed in a 10 vulcanizing mechanism or the model is melted out to leave a mold cavity into which the material to be molded or cast is inserted, as the case may be.

Great difliculty has been encountered in removing the investment composition from the flask after the vulcanizing, molding or casting operation has been completed, and generally it has been necessary to dig and/or scrape the composition from the flask. To facilitate the operation, the 20 flask has been made of a plurality of separable sections, but this still leaves the problem of removing the composition from the sections.

A prime object of my invention is to provide a novel and improved flask, and method and apparatus whereby the investment composition can be easily and quickly removed from each section of the flask in a simple and rapid operation and thereby eliminate the tedious, time consuming and unsatisfactory digging and scraping operations.

Further objects are to provide a novel and improved flask comprising a plurality of sections specially constructed to cooperate with apparatus for pushing said sections apart and ejecting the hardened investment composition from the sections; and to provide novel and improved apparatus to cooperate with the sections of a flask for so separating the sections and ejecting the investment composition.

The two sections of the flask are necessarily somewhat diiferent in size and shape, and another object of the invention is to provide apparatus of the character described that shall embody a novel and improved construction and combination of parts whereby the apparatus shall be adapted both to separate the sections and to :ject the investment composition from all of the sections individually.

Other objects, advantages and results will appear from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of a denta flask embodying the invention.

(Cl. l8--33) Figure 2 is a top plan view of the flask with the cover removed.

Figure 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view through the flask on the line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 4-4 of Figure 1 showing the bottom section of the flask in top plan.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the jack frame utilized for separating the flask sections and forcing the investment material therefrom.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the adaptor ring for use with the jack frame in removing the investment material from the bottom flask section.

Figure 7 is a transverse vertical sectional view through the flask containing investment material mounted on the jack frame and within the press for separating the flask sections and pushing the investment material'from the main section, and

Figure 8 is a similar view showing the mounting of the bottom section of the flask on the jack frame and adaptor ring within the press for ejecting the investment material from the bottom section of the flask. V

Specifically describing the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the flask is generally of known construction and includes a cup-shaped bottom section A, a main hollow section B open at both ends and a removable cover 0. The bottom secction is cup-shaped with its side walls I having a draft or being inclined outwardly from the'bottom wall 2 toward the free edges of the side walls, and said edgesvof the side walls are in a common plane. The mainsection B is hollow and its side walls 3 are provided with a draft or are inclined from their upper edges 4 to their lower edges 5. The lower edges of said walls are in a common plane and when the flask .sections are assembled, abut the edges of the side walls I of the bottom section. The cover plate C is mounted on the upper edges 4 of the main section.

For facilitating assembly of the sections and cover and holding them in assembled relation, the bottom section A has longitudinal exterior grooves 5 in which are slidably mounted guide strips or dowels 6 that are secured to the main section B as by screws 1 and project above the upper edges of the main section. The cover C has notches 8 to separably receive the projecting ends of the dowels.

In use, the sections A and B are assembled as shown, and the investment material H is placed in the assembled sections with the article or a wax model or the like D shown in Figure '7 embedded in the investment material.

Where the flask is to be used simply for vulcanizing a wlcanizable article, for example a dental plate, the plate may be embedded in the investment material as above described, whereupon the assembled flask with the investment material is placed in a vulcanizing apparatus.

The invention is particularly directed to the separation of the flask sections and the ejection of the investment material from the flask sections after the vulcanizing, molding or casting operation has been completed. To this end, I provide a jack frame F which is hollow and has an opening 9 at one end to freely receive the bottom section A of the flask. The jack frame has a rim or flange l0 outlining the opening 9, said rim preferably having notches II to provide a clearance for the dowel pins 6 and the adjacent parts of the flask sections.

The main section B of the flask has on its outer walls a plurality of lugs 12 the ends of which are flush with the lower edges 5 of the section and project beyond the outer surfaces of the section as clearly shown in Figures 3 and 7.

To separate the sections of the flask and force the investment material from the main section B, the cover plate C is removed and the flask is set into the opening 9 in the jack frame F as shown in Figure 7 with the lugs l2 resting on the rim In of the jack frame, whereby the bottom section is in. suspended relation to and free from said jack frame. The jack frame may then be set on a stable support and pressure applied to the investment material at the upper end of the main section B. A screw press G may be utilized as shown in Figure 7, the press including a base plate I3 to which is secured a yoke M in which is mounted a screw l5 operated by a hand wheel I6. The inner end of the screw has a swivel connection H with a block l8. jack frame and flask are set on the base plate l3 beneath the block I8, and the screw I5 may then be operated to cause the block I8 to exert pressure on the investment material. This action results in the block of the investment material being pushed out of the main section through the jack frame, whereupon the block and the bottom section will fall to the base plate l3 within the jack frame.

For removing the block of investment material from the bottom section A, the bottom wall of said section is provided with an opening l9 and a removable plug or cap I slidable in or disposed over. the opening within the section to close the opening, and an adaptor ring 20 is provided for supporting the bottom section up-side down on the'jack frame. As shown, the opening through the adaptor ring is of a size and shape corresponding approximately to the size and shape of the inner periphery of the edges of the side walls of the bottom section, and the In operation, the

ring has lugs 2| to fit the notches H in the rim of the jack frame. The upper side of the ring has other lugs 22 to fit the grooves 5 in the side walls of the bottom section and accurately locate said section on the ring.

In operation, the bottom section A is set on the adaptor ring and jack frame as shown in Figure 8, whereupon the screw I5 is operated to cause the block I8 to engage the plug 19. As pressure form of the flask and the form of the jack frame and adaptor ring may be modified and changed Without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. The essence of the invention is the jack frame and the flask sections so constructed as to cooperate in supporting the flask sections on the jack frame in such a manner as to permit the investment material to be forced from the flask sections through the jack frame. For example, lugs or projections might be formed on the jack frame to cooperate with notches or recesses in the flask sections, instead of projecting lugs on the flask sections.

Having thus described my invention, claim is:

what I Apparatus for removing material from a'flask which comprises two hollow complemental sections, one being cup-shaped and the other being hollow with open ends and the edges of said sections being in abutting relation, said hollow section having a plurality of projections on the outer side of its wall and the other section having an opening in its bottom wall and a plug slidable in said opening to close it, and said flask containing material exposed through one end of said hollow section, said apparatus comprising a hollow jack frame having a rim at one end to receive and cooperate with said projections on the hollow flask section and support said flask with the cupshaped section in suspended relation and free from said jack frame, an adaptor ring to separably seat on said rim. to receive and support said cup-shaped section up-side down at its edge, a press comprising a base to support said jack frame, a yoke mounted on said base, and a screw in said yoke movable toward and from said base with one end formed-to engaged said plug and pass through said opening in the cup-shaped section and to engage the material in said hollow section at the end of the latter opposite said.

jack frame, whereby to force the material from said flask sections.

EDWARD J. HANDLER. 

